Trip to San Antonio

We made our first trip back to San Antonio since moving to California. We had a great time catching up with family, friends, past co-workers, and our former neighbors!

We had a fabulous lunch at The Granary 'Cue & Brew at The Pearl. If you live in or visit the San Antonio area, then you need to try this restaurant! You cannot go wrong with barbecue and beer (or root beer in my case), and all of the food and beverages here are very high quality with distinctive flavors. After lunch we had a nice walk on the Museum Reach section of the Riverwalk, including watching the Lock and Dam in action.


One of our former neighbors moved closer to Downtown and is raising 3 chickens in his back yard. Alex enjoyed meeting the chickens and holding Shiloh.


I had planned to make a trip back to San Antonio sooner, but at least I did not forget how to get to my friends' houses. The boys had fun playing and I was so happy to meet sweet Baby B. Alex conquered the smaller pole at the playground:


Overall, our travels went smoothly. The better deal was to fly from San Francisco to Austin. Alex wrote his name with some coaching while we waited to board our plane. In the middle of our trip back to Cali, he got in a good nap.

It was a great vacation and now we are back to our work and school routines.

10 Things: Moving On

Earlier this month, we closed the sale of our house in Texas. This was our first house, and I lived there for five an a half years. We officially bought the house on July 14, 2006, and slept on the floor there the first night due to our excitement. Alex and I had one-way tickets to move to California on January 14, 2012. I snapped some pictures the week we moved, and now seems like a good time to share them.

The house was all packed on a Wednesday.

It took me forever, but the ugly wallpaper was removed in the master bathroom and replaced with yellow paint. The green carpet was replaced after we moved out.

This was Alex's room right before the move. The green carpet was also replaced after the move. Alex switched to a "big boy bed" once we moved to California.

Since I did not have years to remove the wallpaper, we had a contractor remove the wallpaper and repaint the hall bathroom. He was messy, but we were still happy with the results.

The moving truck was loaded on a Thursday. Alex and I flew to California the following Saturday. The dogs were actually the last to move. My parents took care of the dogs for a few days, and then my mom flew with the dogs to California. I am so glad that I did not have to fly by myself with a toddler and two dogs!

This was Alex's tree.

John built the shed.

Alex's teachers made him this awesome sign for his last day at the Child Development Center. We all loved his first "school."

We have many fond memories of our first house and living in Texas.

10 Things on the 10th of the Month is organized by the awesome Shimelle. You can find links to 10 Things posts from bloggers all over the world at Shimelle.com.

A Little Bit of Fall

We got a little taste of fall on Friday. We went to Boerne for lunch at The Dodging Duck and a walk at the Cibolo Nature Center. We are enjoying a weekend of family time and football while my brother is in town.

one weekend 2 shots (Austin)

We went to Austin for most of the weekend and met up with two of my college friends visiting from Ohio. We have made a couple of day trips to Austin, but this is the most time I have spent there so far.

We stayed by Lady Bird Lake (Town Lake), which is very pretty. We arrived around lunch time and headed over to the Hula Hut, which had good atmosphere, drinks and food. We checked out the roof top pool at the hotel, and I like being able to swim outside in April. We walked around downtown for a while and stumbled upon Max's Wine Dive for dinner. Even though this place is not geared towards kids, it still worked out. Our waiter was great and Alex did well. We enjoyed good wine and the upscale comfort food. It was worth the price, and I was happy to learn today that there is a location in San Antonio!

The guys stayed back at the hotel while the three of us ladies hit 6th Street in search of some live music and fun. We had a good time and enjoyed the people watching. I am now old enough to be happy to be carded to get into places! At work I see a lot of students who want to go to school in Austin. The city has a great night life, and I now see the appeal.

We had brunch today at Moonshine Restaurant, which was worth the wait. We headed back to San Antonio and Alex napped in the car. It is time for me to wrap up this post and go to bed. It was great to visit Austin and spend time with my friends! I am looking forward to going back.

Texas Conference for Women

One week ago I had the privilege of attending the Texas Conference for Women" with the UTSA Student Leadership Center. The conference is large but extremely well organized. I enjoyed the day trip to Houston, and the opportunity to talk with UTSA Student Leaders.

Theme:
YOUR TIME IS NOW!
To be fearlessly resilient. To rebound with purpose and power. To lead with intention.

The keynote speakers were phenomenal and inspiring. Doris Kearns Goodwin discussed the importance of storytelling and our own stories. Leigh Anne Tuohy reminded us that children are "falling through the cracks" and that we can give cheerfully in many ways. (Here is a link to her book. I think that Sandra Bullock played her well.) Judge Glenda Hatchett shared how good things can happen when your purpose and your passion align. You may not find your purpose; it may find you. Dr. Jennifer Arnold showed us how to THINK BIG. Tory Johnson showed us that we must take initiative. Marion Jones discussed second chances and the importance of rebuilding trust. She is now a mother of three and plays in the WNBA.

The breakout sessions were also well organized with expert panels of speakers. My first session was on money. I wanted to learn things that I could apply in my life and for a class presentation. The most important message was to think about how you spend money. (For class I am excited to use some videos from the PBS series Your Life, Your Money.)

The next session was on organization and moderated by the editor of Real Simple Magazine, Kristin van Ogtrop. Even better than a free issue of Real Simple magazine, was the message to let go of perfection. It is nice to commiserate with other women about the dust bunnies and dog hair accumulating in our homes. I bought an organization book, Pretty Neat and am now armed with a weekly chore list to help keep on top of things (while remembering that it does not need to be perfect!).

I highly recommend this conference to others and hope to return again in the future.

Beach Layout

I made this layout last night with pictures from our beach trip last summer. I recently made two more digital layouts and a card to submit to Stampin' Up's My Digital Studio Contest. In my five years of scrapbooking, this is the first contest that I have entered. I had to stop fussing over the pages and just email them off before tomorrow's deadline. The entry cannot be published or submitted elsewhere, so I will post those pages in the future.

Morning Walk on the Beach

When your toddler wakes up around 5:00 A.M., it turns into a good morning to walk on the beach. It was too cloudy to see a good sunrise, but we still enjoyed our walk before the rain began.

The One Way sign amused me. I guess you have to have some signs when people can drive on the beach. I snapped a picture of our hotel too.

USS Lexington

We visited the USS Lexington on our trip to Corpus Christi. Alex, Mom and I stayed on the main deck, which was more toddler friendly. Dad and John made it up to the flight deck and down below, which were not conducive to strollers. Alex still had fun, and we can go back again when he is older.

Pictures of the Corpus Christi Bay